Wednesday, January 22, 2014

S'MORES BARS & LOADED VEGGIE TOMATO SOUP

Hip Hip Hooray for snow!!! I have had a wonderful extended weekend. Friday we had off from school for a grading day. Monday we had off for MLK and Tuesday we had off for snow! Today, Wednesday, we had off because everything is frozen out there... I believe the high today was 6 degrees with a wind chill bringing it down to -10. Yikes! We are so blessed to be toasty warm and safe!

And I bet you are wondering about those yummy looking S'mores Bars above. Let's get your mouth drooling with another picture.

Now I have made a lot of s'mores desserts over the years but both Todd and I agree that these bars are my best creation! Todd even gave them a Todd Rating of 10 out of 10 and requested that I make them for every "cheat day" from his diet from now on. What makes them so good how sweet and crumbly the graham cracker cookie is. They are good cold but taste the best when slightly warm... You know, when all the chocolate and marshmallow is nice and gooey. The recipe for these amazing bars is right below.

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt.

Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.

Divide the dough in half. Press half the dough on the bottom of pan.

Layer the milk chocolate bars on top in one layer.

Carefully spread the marshmallow fluff on the chocolate bars.

Grab small handfuls of the remaining dough and flatten in your hands. Piece together on top of the marshmallow fluff.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool completely before cutting into 9 bars.

And as for this hearty veggie soup? It was super simple to make. Saute some veggies as the base and throw the rest of the ingredients in the slow cooker. And it is chock full of vegetables! Super healthy... I mean, the broth has V8 juice in it! You can customize what you put in the soup based on your personal preferences or what's in your pantry. And considering it has all those vegetables in it, it's pretty darn tasty. The tomato broth and Italian seasoning make a great combination. And with that, I leave you with this final recipe.

Loaded Veggie Tomato Soup

by Lindsey

Keywords: slow-cooker saute soup/stew beans carrots tomato mushrooms

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Ingredients

32 oz chicken broth

1 11.5 oz can original V8 juice

2 14 oz cans diced Italian tomatoes

1 small diced onion

2 cloves minced garlic

1 pkg sliced mushrooms

3 peeled and sliced carrots

3 small diced zucchini

1 diced yellow squash

1 14 oz can drained and rinsed red kidney beans

1 tsp Italian seasoning

S&P to taste

Instructions

In a large frying pan, saute the onion, garlic, carrots and mushrooms in cooking spray or olive oil for about 5 minutes or until softened.

Combine the sauteed mixture and the remaining ingredients in the slow cooker.

Hello Lindsey,-10...do you live in Montreal ;) We had -13 Fahrenheit this morning but I must say I am used to it...Any reason is a good one for a day off. I only looked through this post VERY quickly. I am on a diet and the pictures made my moth drool! Big hug,GiaC